I Wish You Would
by AndAllThatMishigas
Summary: A random evening during the separation.


Author's Note: I was listening to Taylor Swift in my car, as one does, and I was attacked by Gilmore feels. I came up with this short drabble based on the songs I Wish You Would and Wildest Dreams.

**I Wish You Would**

Emily had somehow managed to be ready for her DAR gala almost an hour early. How had she mistimed everything so egregiously? In all her life, Emily had always been ready right on time. She was never early when she didn't need to be, and she was never late. Not unless there were powers outside her control.

She checked her reflection in the full-length mirror once more. Her hair looked fine. Her makeup looked rather good, and she was glad that the new moisturizer she had bought seemed to be covering up a few more of those awful wrinkles around her eyes. Emily felt a pang in her chest when she flashed on a memory from long ago.

She had been about forty years old at the time. Just starting to get wrinkles. They had popped up first around her eyes, and when they became noticeable, she had complained loudly to her husband. And his words had stayed with her to this day.

"Emily, you are an exquisitely beautiful woman. And do you know what those lines around your eyes are caused by?"

"Aging," she replied with a scoff.

He had placed his hands on her face, gently running his thumbs along her cheekbones. "Smiling. Laughter and joy. Every line on your face is just a fraction of the happiness you've experienced in your life. So as long as you get up in the morning, put on something nice and run a comb through your hair, you aren't really aging at all. You're still as full of life as you always were. It's just more visible now."

Emily shook herself to make that memory go away. Memories from long ago when Richard loved her. How times had changed.

She realized just then the reason why she was ready so early: she hadn't wasted any time yelling for Richard to get off the phone or get upstairs to take a shower or change his clothes. Ever since he had moved out to the pool house, she was responsible only for herself. Emily had to take a deep breath and regain her composure.

When she made her way downstairs, she noticed that the sun was starting to set. She poured herself a small glass of vodka and stepped out onto the patio to watch the sky. After all, she had plenty of time and nothing to do.

Richard noticed movement by the pool out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see Emily standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset. The pink of the sky reflected onto her perfect pale skin. She looked absolutely stunning. He couldn't quite recall when he had ever seen her look so beautiful. He made his way to the window to get a closer look. He was drawn to her. He couldn't help himself.

Emily turned her head and saw Richard at the window, looking so tall and handsome. Their eyes locked. She was suddenly assaulted with a thousand thoughts at once. How much she wished he would come back. How much she wished she hadn't thrown him out. How much she missed him. How much she loved him. How much she needed him. Why had she ever let him go? Suddenly it didn't seem important, whatever it was.

Richard stared back at her. The feeling he had felt, that he was drawn to her…it was suddenly so much stronger. Without considering the consequences, Richard opened the French doors of the pool house and went outside to join her.

They stood in front of each other, not saying a word. Richard was close enough to reach out and touch her. He wanted to. But he wasn't sure if he should.

Emily waited for him to do something. Say something. Anything. He had come outside to join her. It was up to him to make the next move. She wished he would.

"I miss you."

The quiet, honest simplicity of his words caught her off guard. "I'm not mad anymore," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. "I miss you too much."

There was a long pause before Richard could work up the courage to say what he wanted to say. "I'd like to kiss you."

Emily smiled, causing her eyes to crinkle with joy. "I wish you would," she replied.

Richard leaned in to kiss his wife for the first time in recent memory. He felt his heart skip a beat, and when it did, he was jolted awake. He opened his eyes and found himself in his bed, alone, in the pool house.

He thought back to earlier in the day, when he had seen Emily standing by the pool. She had looked at him. They stared at one another for only a few seconds before she turned back to the house, slamming the door behind her.

Richard turned over, wrestling his pillow into a more comfortable position. In his wildest dreams, he pictured Emily that way. Looking perfect, as she always did, but gazing at him with that look of love and longing. But it had been quite a long time since he had seen that look in her eyes, outside of his dreams at least. It had been even longer since he had gotten to kiss her.

"I wish I could," he mumbled to himself, trying desperately to go back to sleep without dreams of his wife.


End file.
